Expert Lancer - Gadgets,Phones,Tech News,Cameras » yahoo

80% of Smartphone Users Multitask While Watching TV [STATS]

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 13:35:19 +0000

It’s been said that multitasking makes you less productive , yet that hasn’t stopped the majority of U.S. smartphone users from juggling multiple devices. As many as 80% of people multitask on a mobile device while watching TV, finds a new study. Using a laptop in front of the TV is no new behavior, yet few TV spots capitalize on the fact many consumers hold an Internet-enabled device in their hands as commercials air. The DVR presented hurdles for advertisers a decade ago as viewers were able to fast forward through ads. Today, tablets and smartphones introduce a new challenge: A more engaged yet distracted consumer. Apps and tools, such as Shazam , might offer one way for marketers to get viewers interacting with ads. Yahoo Mobile and RazorFish polled 2,000 U.S. adults on their mobile habits and device preferences, to help marketers better understand consumer behavior. We pulled out 7 intriguing stats on consumer multitasking patterns. 38% of respondents say browsing the web enhances their TV viewing experience, while another 38% say it makes them more distracted. 70% of respondents multitask at least once a week; 49% do so daily. 15% are on their phones for programs’ entire durations. The top 5 programming genres attracting multitaskers are reality, news, comedy, sports and food. 94% of reported multitaskers engage in some form of mobile communication while watching TV, such as exchanging email, sending IMs, texting, talking or social networking. 60% browse the mobile web, of which 44% search for unrelated content and 38% search for related content. Mobile traffic spikes during halftime shows of sporting events; Yahoo Sports saw a 305% increase during the last Super Bowl halftime show. What do you think marketers can learn from these patters? Image courtesy of Flickr, JayB.Stevens2010 More About: multitasking , smartphone , study

Continued here:
80% of Smartphone Users Multitask While Watching TV [STATS]

Yahoo! Market will be helping Android gain a foothold soon

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 07:29:32 +0000

While the Apple iPhone has certainly made quite a splash in the sophisticated Japanese phone market, that does not mean Android has no fighting chance at all. Yahoo! Market will be opening up for Android by Yahoo! Japan, at least that is what Japanese tech blog Asiajin reports. Plans to get a dedicated app store up and running for the local Android market in the Land of the Rising Sun would enable Japanese Android smartphone owners to download applications straight from its site, and local developers will also win from this situation as they can then upload apps to the store instead of going through the Android Market. Yahoo! Market will be helping Android gain a foothold soon , By Ubergizmo . Top Stories : iPhone 4S Review , Galaxy S2 Review ,

Toyota recalls 550,000 vehicles around the globe

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 07:00:18 +0000

Toyota did gain quite the reputation as a reliable vehicle that delivered plenty of bang for your hard earned buck, but recent times have seen the motor vehicle manufacturer drop a notch from their previously lofty perch. Well, today is not about bouquets but brickbats rather, where the Japanese motoring giant is said to recall around 550,000 vehicles from around the globe. Most of these would be from the US, and the beef with the recall would be issues which could make them harder to steer. Toyota recalls 550,000 vehicles around the globe , By Ubergizmo . Top Stories : Galaxy S2 Review , Droid Bionic Review ,

More:
Toyota recalls 550,000 vehicles around the globe

BlackBerry services hit a glitch, but RIM says it is not an outage

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 06:54:06 +0000

Research In Motion (RIM) might not be going great guns at the moment, but they still have a respectable user base when it comes to their signature BlackBerry smartphones. Just recently, we read about a worldwide outage that affected millions of BlackBerry users worldwide, and today there is another glitch in the BlackBerry service as users claim that they experienced delays. RIM says that this is not an outage, and here is their official statement. “There is no system-wide outage, however we are investigating reports that some users in EMEIA (Europe, Middle East, India, and Africa) have experienced delays.” Later in the day, RIM mentioned that all systems and services were operating normally in EMEIA, although they did not reveal what was the cause of the problem, whether it was some sort of electrical gremlin being the source of all the mischief. Were you one of those affected by some downtime in RIM’s BlackBerry service, or did you not notice anything at all as it was all peaches and cream for you? BlackBerry services hit a glitch, but RIM says it is not an outage , By Ubergizmo . Top Stories : Galaxy S2 Review , Droid Bionic Review ,

Go here to see the original:
BlackBerry services hit a glitch, but RIM says it is not an outage

AOL, Yahoo, And Microsoft Band Together To Fend Off Facebook’s Ad Assault

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 01:32:47 +0000

There have been a number of rumors circulating around Yahoo, Microsoft, and Aol of late, most of them focusing on a potential Aol/Yahoo merger, or Yahoo’s acquisition by Aol or Microsoft, etc. Well, it seems the companies have officially become linked, but they’ve run into each other’s arms not by way of M&A, but by way of display ads. Yes, the three internet behemoths today announced agreements that they hope will improve the process of buying and selling premium online display inventory. In other words, the agreements will allow each to offer the other’s display ads to their respective customers. With agencies and advertisers now able to pick and choose between Yahoo’s Network Plus, Aol’s Advertising.com and Microsoft’s Media network, each of which has different strengths in data, optimization, packaging, etc., this strategic partnership creates somewhat of a mega ad network. Online advertising is all about scale, and with this threefold growth in inventory, the three companies are looking to more quickly achieve the scale that is far more difficult to reach alone. While the companies hope that this agreement will drive better returns for their customers ( see Yahoo Executive VP Ross Levinsohn’s statement here ), it remains to be seen just how “premium” the partnership’s ads will be. Premium ad inventories are inherently a product of scarcity, which seems to be a bit at odds with the scale/network approach the companies are taking, where nobody really knows what they’re selling. What’s more, while this may improve the process of buying and selling online display inventory, it’s also a play to fend off the meteoric rise of Facebook (and, in turn, Google, which owns a 75 percent share of search advertising). Really, everyone is spending more time on Facebook, what with their measly 800 million users, and advertisers are following them there. To that point, Facebook now accounts for one out of every three ad impressions in the U.S. Up until now, no other web property in the U.S. really comes close. ( See our coverage here .) Thanks to the tables below from eMarketer , we see that Facebook leads the way in net display revenues in the U.S. with over $2 billion this year. Yahoo comes in second, with Microsoft and Aol far behind Google in third and fourth. The same ranking is true for share of the online display ad market, with Facebook holding 16 percent over Yahoo’s 13 percent — and eMarketer expects both Google and Facebook’s share to increase significantly next year to 19 percent and 12 percent, putting Google neck-and-neck with Yahoo. What’s more, in terms of growth in online display advertising, Facebook saw a 66 percent increase this year, far outpacing the rest of the pack. I’ll hold off there, because you probably get the picture. Yahoo has the biggest ad network in terms of revenues and marketshare of the this new ad trifecta, which certainly makes this an advantageous partnership for Microsoft and Aol, at least from this perspective. But, in the end, at least for the foreseeable future, it’s hard to see this as anything but a bandaid. Facebook’s growth in display advertising isn’t slowing down any time soon. Crunchbase YAHOO! MICROSOFT AOL FACEBOOK GOOGLE Company: Yahoo! Website: yahoo.com Launch Date: January 1, 1994 IPO: December 4, 1996, Nasdaq:YHOO Yahoo was founded in 1994 by Stanford Ph.D. students David Filo and Jerry Yang. It has since evolved into a major internet brand with search, content verticals, and other web services. Yahoo! Inc. (Yahoo!), incorporated in 1995, is a global Internet brand. To users, the Company provides owned and operated online properties and services (Yahoo! Properties, Offerings, or Owned and Operated sites). Yahoo! also extends its marketing platform and access to Internet users beyond Yahoo! Properties through its distribution network… Learn more Company: Microsoft Website: microsoft.com Launch Date: April 4, 1974 IPO: NASDAQ:MSFT Microsoft, founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, is a veteran software company, best known for its Microsoft Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office suite of productivity software. Starting in 1980 Microsoft formed a partnership with IBM allowing Microsoft to sell its software package with the computers IBM manufactured. Microsoft is widely used by professionals worldwide and largely dominates the American corporate market. Additionally, the company has ventured into hardware with consumer products such as the Zune and… Learn more Company: AOL Website: aol.com IPO: NYSE:AOL AOL is a global advertising-supported Web company, with display advertising network in the U.S., a substantial worldwide audience, and a suite of popular Web brands and products. The company’s strategy focuses on increasing the scale and sophistication of its advertising platform and growing the size and engagement of its global online audience through leading products and programming. On March 13, 2008, AOL Internet division announced their plans to buy social network Bebo for $850 million in cash. History of Aol: AOL was… Learn more Company: Facebook Website: facebook.com Launch Date: January 2, 2004 Funding: $2.34B Facebook is the world’s largest social network, with over 500 million users. Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg in February 2004, initially as an exclusive network for Harvard students. It was a huge hit: in 2 weeks, half of the schools in the Boston area began demanding a Facebook network. Zuckerberg immediately recruited his friends Dustin Moskowitz and Chris Hughes to help build Facebook, and within four months, Facebook added 30 more college networks. The original idea for the term… Learn more Company: Google Website: google.com Launch Date: July 9, 1998 IPO: NASDAQ:GOOG Google provides search and advertising services, which together aim to organize and monetize the world’s information. In addition to its dominant search engine, it offers a plethora of online tools and platforms including: Gmail, Maps and YouTube. Most of its Web-based products are free, funded by Google’s highly integrated online advertising platforms AdWords and AdSense. Google promotes the idea that advertising should be highly targeted and relevant to users thus providing them with a rich source of information…. Learn more

Excerpt from:
AOL, Yahoo, And Microsoft Band Together To Fend Off Facebook’s Ad Assault

Yahoo, ABC Turn Eyes to Presidential Race

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 20:58:08 +0000

Elections are top-of-mind for a lot of Americans rushing to vote on Election Day today . ABC and Yahoo News, though, are looking to the 2012 election with a day of live streaming exclusive interviews with GOP presidential candidates. The interviews, which can be found on ABC News’ homepage and Yahoo News’ homepage , will run throughout Tuesday and feature some of ABC’s top correspondents chatting with the major GOP candidates in cities across the country. The live streams are part of Yahoo News’ “Newsmakers” series. Parts of the interviews will air on ABC shows, but their main audience will be online. The lineup includes: George Stephanopoulos to interview Mitt Romney in Chicago Jonathan Karl to interview Herman Cain in Scottsdale, Arizona Christiane Amanpour to interview Rick Perry in Austin, Texas Jake Tapper to interview Newt Gingrich in Washington, D.C. Terry Moran to interview Ron Paul in Clute, Texas Ron Claiborne to interview Michelle Bachmann in Charleston, SC John Berman to interview Rick Santorum in Manchester, NH Sharyn Alfonsi to interview Jon Huntsman in Coral Gables, Florida It’s impressive ABC and Yahoo are not only live streaming all the interviews online but were also able to wrangle the diverse (and dispersed) GOP field under one digital roof on the same day. The questions so far have tended to be standard fare: Why are you right for the candidacy? How would you fix the economy? There is also still ample time given to difficult and controversial topics. SEE ALSO: I Want to Vote With My Smartphone Get yourself in the Election Day mindset and check out the live stream. Do you think the interview series is a brave new precedent or a waste of resources? More About: livestreaming , Politics , Social Media , streaming , Video For more Media coverage: Follow Mashable Media on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Media channel Download our free apps for Android , Mac , iPhone and iPad

See the rest here:
Yahoo, ABC Turn Eyes to Presidential Race

End the Office? Students Want Right to Work From Home [INFOGRAPHIC]

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 20:51:13 +0000

Planning on hiring a hotshot kid straight out of college? Here’s a checklist for you: Make sure she can tweet or update Facebook while on the clock. Let her get work email on whatever device she wants. Allow her to work from home on her own schedule, even though she’s unlikely to really think it makes her more productive. And by the way, an increasing number of your employees don’t think they need to be in the office either. These are all the results of a Cisco survey of 2,800 college students and young professionals worldwide. The survey had a number of questions that make good cocktail party trivia (one-third of students think the Internet is as important as food, air and water) and are rather less impressive the more you consider them (the vast majority, after all, don’t believe that for a moment). Where the study really gets interesting is when it comes to students’ workplace expectations — or rather, the expectation that they won’t be in the workplace. More than 60% say they have a right — not just a desire, but a right — to work from home on a flexible schedule. Some 70% say coming into the office regularly is unnecessary. That’s despite the fact that only a quarter of students are willing to say working from home makes them more productive. SEE ALSO: The Perks of Working at Google, Facebook, Twitter and More [INFOGRAPHIC] They have some backup, at least — 69% of all workers say the office is unnecessary, a figure that has grown from 60% last year. So is the workplace doomed, or will a weak economy force young adults to learn to love the cube? Let us know in the comments what you think. More About: Business , career , infographic , workplace For more Business coverage: Follow Mashable Business on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Business channel Download our free apps for Android , Mac , iPhone and iPad

Mark Cuban Invests $250,000 In Social Games Maker Mention Mobile

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 12:15:31 +0000

Exclusive – Social gaming startup Mention Mobile has raised $250,000 from billionaire, entrepreneur and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban in exchange for a minority equity stake in the company. Mention Mobile says it specializes in apps that are ‘infused with Facebook content’, and the capital injection is meant to fund the development of new single-title apps . The company’s mobile applications are interesting in that they leverage public information from Facebook to customize games and create personalized content based off a user’s friends, preferences, interests and whatnot. Mention Mobile’s apps are currently available only for iOS, but the company says upcoming apps will also be available for Android. Founded in 2010, Mention Mobile is based in Los Angeles. Crunchbase MENTION MOBILE MARK CUBAN Company: Mention Mobile Website: mentionmobile.com Launch Date: November 8, 2011 Mention Mobile is a young innovative development company that specializes in incorporating real friends into casual social games on facebook & mobile devices. Learn more Person: Mark Cuban Website: blogmaverick.com Companies: Assistly , Broadcast.com , Thinkingvoice , Motionloft Mark Cuban is a tech entrepreneur who owns the Dallas Mavericks. He is the founder of Broadcast.com (acquired by Yahoo! in 1999 for $5.04 billion), HDNet, and several other companies. He has also been an angel investor for several startups including SlideShare, Goowy, RedSwoosh, Box.net, Weblogs, Inc., and Mahalo. Learn more

Read the original:
Mark Cuban Invests $250,000 In Social Games Maker Mention Mobile

Hey Yahoo, Do a Barrel Roll: How Google Wins With Whimsical Tricks

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 18:54:58 +0000

You have to hand it to Google . With one fun little trick that a single engineer probably came up with in his mandated 20% spare time — getting the screen to “ do a barrel roll ” — the company got enough free media to make a chief marketing officer weep. It’s hardly an anomaly, either. As we showed yesterday in our gallery of silly Google tricks , this kind of whimsy is baked right into the search giant’s company culture. Easter eggs are buried all over. April Fools tricks happen year-round. Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin built a company that likes to let its hair down every single day, and it’s what helped them get where they are now. I’ve been covering Google since it was squeezed into one tiny office building in Mountain View, and the things I saw in those early days are still burned into my memory. The lava lamps, beanbags and Friday hockey games have become legend, but this kind of stuff was everywhere. Page liked to show off the working inkjet printer he had constructed out of LEGO. Brin could often be found fiddling with hardware-based screensavers. There’s a reason those guys are always grinning. Granted, Google won the search wars with its algorithm. If it hadn’t had the Page Rank system, it would have been just another startup. But it’s one thing to have a great piece of technology, and another thing entirely to build a great company. Attracting talent is key. ( Yahoo has had a difficult time with it, apparently.) That doesn’t just mean free ice cream and backrubs at Google, though I’m sure they wooed their fair share of Silicon Valley engineers. Even the much-vaunted 20% time doesn’t mean much if there isn’t a company-wide culture that celebrates trying stuff and burying fun features in major products. I visited Yahoo earlier this year and saw a well-meaning and earnest company trying to dig itself out of a hole of irrelevance. Senior executives presented their digital media strategy in the form of a periodic table — something I can’t remember a single thing about unless I look it up. It’s odd that Yahoo hasn’t snagged this reputation for whimsical little tricks and childlike wonderment. With a name like that, you’d think they’d be all over it. But the company had a succession of CEOs who thought in very serious and grownup terms, such as Terry Semel, who wanted to turn the company into a kind of digital Hollywood studio. Bing has the right idea with its animated desktops. It’s this kind of feature that will catch users’ attention and make them smile. But the large and lumbering Microsoft could also do with a greater reputation for surprise and delight. We all have way too much drudgery in our daily lives; companies can lift us out of it with great products, a sense of vitality and the odd, winking joke. As in any good relationship, that’s what we gravitate toward. So yes, Yahoo, we’re sure your digital media periodic table is awesome. But try giving us a barrel roll once in a while too. Gravity Enter “Google Gravity” in the search bar. Hit “I’m feeling lucky” (if you have Google Instant enabled, it’s on the right hand side of the suggested searches). Then watch your world fall down. Click here to view this gallery. Image courtesy of Flickr via puliarf More About: Google , trending , Yahoo For more Dev & Design coverage: Follow Mashable Dev & Design on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Dev & Design channel Download our free apps for Android , Mac , iPhone and iPad

Go here to see the original:
Hey Yahoo, Do a Barrel Roll: How Google Wins With Whimsical Tricks

Where Is Yahoo Headed? Its Product Chief Has a Clue [INTERVIEW]

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 21:43:16 +0000

Yahoo Chief Product Officer Blake Irving says that he’s not interested in the vacant Yahoo CEO job, but is instead focused on a big pipeline of mobile products and beating Nielsen at its own game. In an interview with Mashable , the charismatic Yahoo executive claims he’s not vying to replace Carol Bartz, who was unceremoniously bounced from the company in September. “No. I’m a great product guy,” Irving emphatically responded when asked whether he’d make a good CEO for Yahoo. “Even if I did make a good CEO for any company, I’m a product guy first and foremost.” Irving admits that the turmoil with Yahoo’s leadership has made it tough to recruit talent, though he says new recruits are convinced once they meet with the team and see the products they’re working on. “When your CEO exits your company in a quick fashion, people notice,” he says. “People read what they read.” However, Irving claims the turmoil hasn’t affected the company’s product pipeline. He says Yahoo can’t prevent what the media is saying and what his friends are reading, but his team is still working on “incredibly cool stuff.” Yahoo released four products Wednesday , including Livestand , a social newsstand app for the iPad that competes with Flipboard. “We all know what we’re trying to build here,” Irving said. “Not just for Yahoo, but for the web. We’re steadfast in that, and everyone in the product organization knows that.” IntoNow and the Yahoo Vision Irving showed excitement about IntoNow for iPad, another product that Yahoo released Wednesday. The app can “listen” to a TV show and figure out what show and episode the clip comes from, but it now comes with tweets and information related to the show. This makes it an ideal TV-watching companion. “It allows you to have a personal experience for television when your’e in a shared environment,” Irving stated. Perhaps the most important thing about the app, however, is its ability to track user behavior as they watch. Irving says Yahoo knows if someone is “in front of the TV or at the fridge” based on their behavior with the app. Activity on the app can reveal whether somebody is interested in an on-screen character or presenter, or has tuned out and is doing something else. Irving even made a bold claim about how much information Yahoo can gather through the app: “We will know more about what’s happening on TV than Nielsen,” he said. This information opens up a huge opportunity for brands. Irving explained the app may know somebody is watching a Coke commercial during a TV show. “Couldn’t you advertise Pepsi?” Irving said. He believes the app provides a better place to advertise, since viewers’ attention moves away from the TV and towards the tablet during commercial breaks. In fact, Pepsi and IntoNow have already partnered on one promotion; users that tagged a Pepsi MAX commercial received a free soda. How does IntoNow and Livestand fit into Yahoo’s overall strategy and future? We’ve heard Yahoo say over and over that it considers itself the premiere digital media company . Irving fleshed out that description by saying today’s web is good at relevance, but isn’t good at “providing real meaning” to the things we watch and interact with. “The vision and mission of the company,” Irving said, “is bringing personal meaning to the web.” More About: Blake Irving , interview , Livestand , Yahoo , Yahoo Livestand

View original post here:
Where Is Yahoo Headed? Its Product Chief Has a Clue [INTERVIEW]